(no subject)

[x-icarus.livejournal.com]

Saturday evening, Jay goes to get a snack and finds Nathan. They snark about privacy and telepathic ethics, and Nathan ends the conversation with one comment that's all too true. The bastard.


The dishwasher was full of clean dishes. Someone hadn't gotten the chance to empty it yet, clearly. Nathan shrugged and sat down at the kitchen table, leafing through the newspaper that someone had left there as he sipped at his coffee. Might as well save 'someone' the time since he was sitting here... he diverted a small portion of his concentration and the dishes started to levitate out of the dishwasher and float across the kitchen to their designated cupboards and drawers. Anyone who comes in here and makes Disney references gets a fork in the eye, Nathan thought with a flicker of black humor.

Another wasted day of doing nothing, Jay thought as he leisurely entered the kitchen. His too-big jeans were resting on his hips as usual, and despite the cold weather outside he still opted for a wife-beater. The comfort and freedom it gave him and his wings was well worth the odd looks he'd received by people bundled up.

The first thing Jay saw when he set foot inside was a bunch of dishes and utensils flying through the air, from dishwasher to cabinets and drawers. A mild swear died on his lips when he saw the mansion's resident telekinetic sitting at the table. Lazy, he mentally castigated as he dodged a plate to get to the fridge.

Nathan blinked at him, automatically creating a clear path for the young man to get to the fridge. "I beg your pardon?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Finding himself an apple, Jay closed the fridge door and walked to the sink to rinse it off. "Hmm? Ah didn't say anythin'," Jay responded, and then took a bite of his snack. Say what you want about the school, the students, and the teachers, but at least they kept the place stocked with good food and fresh fruit.

"You think this is lazy?" Nathan asked a bit sharply, waving a hand at the floating dishes. "It takes effort, just like walking back and forth to the cupboards does."

"How did you . . ." Jay began, confused. He had thought the insult, but he hadn't vocalized it. But then he remembered. "Oh. Mind-reader," he all but spat. "Stay outta mah head. Mah thoughts are mah own, sir, and you don't got no right to go perusin' 'em."

"Perusing them?" Nathan snorted, turning the page of the newspaper with a little more force than absolutely necessary. Iffy manners on his part, maybe, but this wasn't the first time that he'd seen this attitude that overhearing someone's thoughts meant you were invading them. "I wasn't in your head, Mr. Guthrie. You 'shouted' that at me. It's the mental equivalent of throwing a rock at myhead."

"Right, because Ah came in here and specifically went ta direct a comment at you," Jay replied sarcastically. "Aren't all you mind-readers supposeda be able ta block out our thoughts anyway? Shouldn' be in mah head, then."

"Let me try this again. I was not inyour head. To be in your head would require me actively scanning you, and to be honest, after eight and a half months here, I try to do that with as few of you kids as humanly possible. I'm much happier that way. I would also be much happier if I could deafen myself so that I didn't hear any of the ambient telepathic noise around here, but that's not an option either. We can't block everything out." Nathan looked up at Jay, glaring. "As for wanting to direct a comment at me - you did. You just decided to snipe at me in the questionable privacy of your own head rather than say it aloud."

Jay shrugged, taking another bite of his apple, and returning the glare. "Now doesn't that seem just a tid bit odd to you? Whatcha just said, that is. The 'questionable privacy' of mah head. Mah head is mah head. Privacy shouldn't be an issue here. It don't matter what Ah think to mahself, you sould just move ta ignore it."

"Why should I?" Nathan snapped, knowing that he should be stopping this conversation right then and there, admitting that his manners in reacting to an unspoken comment had maybe been a little questionable, and make a discreet exit. But he didn't feel like it, damn it. "I'd love it if I had privacy in my own head, too. Unfortunately, your average non-telepath has neither the discipline nor probably the inclination to provide me with that."

Nathan's little outburst brought a small smirk to Jay's face, which he quickly hid by taking another bite of his apple. "Or maybe Ah was just right 'bout what Ah 'said.' But then again, Ah ain't no mind reader mahself, so Hell if Ah know anythin' 'bout psychic ethics." For all I know, he thought, wondering if Nathan could 'hear' this too, There aren't any.

"What is, is," Nathan said curtly, turning the page of his newspaper again. The plates stacked themselves in the cupboard with perhaps a little more force than strictly necessary. "I probably should have ignored you being rude and ignorant, yes. At least then I wouldn't have been treated to yet another example of this particular double standard among mutants."

Jay knew that he was toeing the line, if not completely crossing it. He knew that he was being rude to a teacher (thankfully not one of his, though), but in his mind, Nathan's reciprocation was enough justification. "No, the double standard would be if Ah continued my attitude while tellin' ya thatcha don' got no right to talk to me like that 'cuz Ah'm a student and you're in a position of authoritah and should act above that. There ain't no double standard with our privacies, though."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Proof that I'm not in your head," he said dryly. "I didn't quite manage to follow your logic there." He folded the newspaper, floating the glasses over to the cupboard with a little more care. "The double standard I mentioned isn't about privacy, Mr. Guthrie. It's how a significant portion of mutants who aren't psis relate to those of us who are."

"And here Ah thought that all muties are born equal," Jay replied just as caustically. "Musta missed the real lesson." Finishing his apple, he tossed the core in the garbage and quickly rinsed his hands in the sink. "Listen, sir, Ah didn't mean to start nuthin'. The point stands, practicality aside."

"Maybe, but you're missing my point." Nathan waved a hand at Jay's wings. "Here in the school, we're supposed to be accepting of each other's mutations, right? But telepaths have to walk around getting the evil eye from every second person just because they're afraid we actually want to know their sordid little secrets. Believe it or not, that generally only makes their thoughts louder." He sighed and shook his head. "I should have let you snark in peace and not reacted, I know that. That'swhat telepathic ethics are supposed to be, Jay. We're supposed to let things like that slide off our backs." He smiled thinly. "Otherwise it makes our fellow mutants too uncomfortable."

"Not like Ah even got any sordid secrets ta share," Jay scoffed. "And Ah don't think thatcha necessarily wanta know everythin' we're all thinkin' about. But you could, that's the thing. Ya could, and ya can use it against us, like ya just did with me. That's why ya'll get special treatment."

"Like I said," Nathan retorted curtly. Good God, he was beginning to sound like Manuel, though. There was a distressing thought. "A double standard." The last of the glasses shelved themselves, and Nathan rose as the dishwasher door swung closed. "As for using it against you, Mr. Guthrie, maybe you'll stop to think before you jump to conclusions the next time."

"When the cops don't got no warrant, they can't use the evidence in trial," Jay said. "Likewise, these're mah thoughts, not directed at nobody, so no matter iffn ya 'heard' them or not, ya can't judge me based on 'em."

"You'd like to believe that. I don't need telepathy to know that much." Nathan tucked his newspaper under his arm, smiling faintly. "You'd like to think the face you present to the world is an impenetrable one, and you don't like the fact that you're in a place where there are people who can see through it."

There were many reasons Jay didn't just jump and attack Nathan at that moment, not the least of which being that he'd be plucked and fried before he could lay a fist on the mercenary-turned-teacher. So letting rationality rule, and taking to heart Nathan's comment about thinking secrets loudly when you least want to, Jay just sneered and left the kitchen. But not without mentally tossing a dozen violent swears at Nathan's way.